There are many ways that you can interpret nursing education statistics. You could have the number of students enrolled in nursing, number of nursing degrees awarded, number of people that passed the nursing board exam etc.

Display all these statistics together and without context they can easily become confusing.

Charts can allow the viewer to see differences and similarities between nursing schools, gain more knowledge and begin to ask questions. But readers first need to understand these numbers.

What you’ll learn:

• Know What the Data Is Actually Measuring
• Show Nursing Degree Pathways With a Flowchart
• Make Enrollment Trends Easy to Read
• Why Applications Need Their Own Chart
• Keep Exam Results and Nurse Surveys Separate
• Make Every Chart Clear at a Glance
• Wrapping It Up

Know What the Data Is Actually Measuring

Look at the source of your data before jumping into colors and creating charts. Are you looking at students, applications or degrees? These are all different.

If you saw an increase in applications to nursing school and a decrease in degrees awarded it may seem contradictory. It’s not. The amount of applications to nursing programs does not reflect the amount of students graduating. There can also be more degrees than graduates if someone receives multiple degrees. Data collected through surveys will only reflect what respondents answer. Always know who is being represented and how the statistic was acquired.

Many articles refer to the population they are representing as “nurses”. Some of these may be nursing students, while others may be graduated nurses that are currently working. These could answer different questions, make sure your chart reflects that.

Belmont Abbey College created a survey asking about nursing education and careers for nurses in the United States that received a college education. Readers can use this survey to learn more about the education and career experiences reported by college-educated nurses. Just remember it is not a count of all nurses in America.

This will ensure your data has good integrity.

Show Nursing Degree Pathways With a Flowchart

A flow chart will allow readers to follow the path that a nursing degree takes them.

In the United States, routes to becoming a registered nurse include a bachelor’s degree in nursing, an associate degree in nursing, or a diploma from an approved nursing program. Graduates must also meet state licensing requirements and pass the NCLEX-RN exam

Flow charts can allow viewers to understand the order of operations when it comes to getting licensed as an RN. They can then show what a nurse can do once they receive their license. They can continue to work as an RN or further their education.

They may receive their associate’s in nursing, then go back to complete their bachelor’s. Many nurses continue to receive graduate degrees, but this is not necessary for all.

A flowchart can show different nursing education routes, but it cannot show how many nurses complete each route. A bar chart using degrees awarded per year can compare the number of awards at each level.

Two separate charts can show these two kinds of information more clearly.

Make Enrollment Trends Easy to Read

Line charts can display this information. Many people may want to know if the number of students enrolled in nursing programs is increasing or decreasing.

Make your x-axis years and y-axis student enrollment. Be sure to specify if your statistics represent multiple types of nursing programs. You can either break down the statistics and represent them separately or name your legends accordingly.

Remember that your statistics may not be representing the same thing.

The AACN reports on student enrollment in baccalaureate nursing programs. IPEDS collects information from colleges on many different aspects of their school. One aspect could be student enrollment, which may be for the fall, year round, and amount of degrees awarded.

Do not put these statistics on the same chart as degrees awarded or describe them as all nursing students enrolled. Add a caption under your line chart that explains your data.

Why Applications Need Their Own Chart

Nursing applications show how a small change in wording can alter the meaning of a statistic.

In May 2026, the AACN reported that 93,176 qualified applications to baccalaureate and graduate nursing programs were not offered admission in 2025.

Pay attention to the word “applications”.

These could have been sent to many nursing programs and were not admitted at one, but admitted at another. So this does not equal the number of people not allowed to pursue a nursing degree.

If you wanted to create a chart from this information you should represent it as applications that were not accepted to nursing schools. If the statistics provide information for each degree, create each bar per degree. Do not call them students that were denied nursing.

Funnel charts can also be misleading when discussing applications to nursing schools. Unless your funnel is following compatible data it can appear that a student goes through all these steps.

Keep Exam Results and Nurse Surveys Separate

Pass rates from the NCLEX can show how people performed on the exam, but not how nurses feel about their job, pay, or degree they chose.

The NCSBN provides pass rates for the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX). They are able to break down these statistics by type of program, first time taker or repeat, and US educated vs internationally.

Your graph comparing first time test takers should not include those that took the exam multiple times. Create a bar graph that separates these categories and include the exam and year your statistics are from.

There are surveys that can help readers understand more about nurses after they graduate. This can include what they chose to do or think they should do with their career.

Using bar graphs instead of pie charts can be beneficial for survey data. Pie charts will make it seem like all slices are out of one total. There may be cases where respondents can choose multiple answers.

Include what question was asked, who answered and what your data is limited to.

Make Every Chart Clear at a Glance

You don’t need elaborate dashboards to visualize nursing statistics

Keep these in mind when trying to create your chart.

1. Create a descriptive title. Describe what your chart is displaying, not just that it relates to nursing.
2. Identify what each mark is. Whether it be students, applications, or degrees.
3. Start count-based bar charts at zero. For line charts, label the scale clearly and choose a time period that does not distort the trend.
4. Make your chart legible. Use simple labels, color contrasts and spacing.
5. Cite your information. Include where the data came from, date, and what your data does and doesn’t represent.

If your data is being viewed on a smaller device, some of this information may not be seen. You can describe what your chart is represented in a text form for accessibility as well.

Can someone glance at your chart and understand what it is telling them?

If not, simplify your chart.

Wrapping It Up

There are many ways to visualize nursing statistics. Help the reader understand what they can learn from your data.

Use flow charts, line graphs, and bar graphs to show nursing degree paths, student enrollment, and pass rates.